KNOCKOUT Cup holders Newcastle Diamonds face a super Sunday showdown against Premier League leaders Glasgow Tigers tomorrow when both legs of their semi-final will take place.

The teams meet at Ashfield Stadium, Glasgow, in the first leg starting at 2.30pm.

Once that match is over the riders will load the bikes into their vans and head to Byker for the second leg (8pm).

The two sides did the same thing 20 years ago when they also met in the semi-final. The winners were not known until the very last race of the second leg at Byker when Glasgow’s Steve Lawson streaked away from the gate to give the Tigers an aggregate 91-88 victory.

Current Newcastle team manager George English reflected: “I remember it well, and a last-heat decider in a semi-final of 30 heats made for a wonderful day of entertainment for fans of both sides, even though it had a disappointing ending for ours.

“I love to think we might reverse that situation tomorrow, but we will certainly need a much better show than we put on at Sheffield a couple of nights ago.

“I’ve told our lads that while Glasgow are obviously good around Ashfield, they are not as powerful as Sheffield are around Owlerton, so they must forget about that match and move on.

“Glasgow are currently favourites for a league and cup double but Somerset were everyone’s tip for the double when we knocked them out, so you just never know.”

Kyle Newman, who missed the thrashing at Sheffield because of a shoulder injury, is expected to return to the Diamonds’ line-up tomorrow.